Font superfamily

The PT family, showing the related structures of letters
Thesis by Lucas DeGroot

In typography, a font superfamily or typeface superfamily is a font family containing fonts that fall into multiple classifications.[1]

The norm in a superfamily is to start from an identical character shape; class-specific features such as serifs are added to that shape. The result is a set of fonts with a similar appearance that belong to different classes such as sans, serif, slab serif, rounded.[2][3]

Superfamilies may include fonts grouped together for a common purpose that are not exactly complementary in letterform structure. They can allow organizations to expand their image and style while maintaining stylistic consistency. For example, BBC Reith font superfamily was commissioned by the BBC in 2018 to facilitate 'typographic expression' and consists of three styles (condensed, sans, serif) as well as a multitude of weights.[4][5]

  1. ^ Seeliger, Frank (2016-04-01), "Machen Google, Wikipedia und Amazon und Co. Bibliotheken überflüssig?", Hochschulmanagement in Theorie und Praxis : Festschrift für László Ungvári, Wildau Verlag GmbH, doi:10.15771/978-3-945560-03-7_12, ISBN 978-3-945560-03-7, retrieved 2023-06-27
  2. ^ "Superfamilies". Google Fonts. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  3. ^ "What are font superfamilies and why do we need them?". Monotype. 2020-05-06. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  4. ^ "Super Families - Fonts.com". Fonts.com. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  5. ^ "Typography". GEL Website. 2017-08-07. Retrieved 2024-06-10.